some news
Kristina Hoffmann
time for a little update...
being in Sydney, trying to sell the car (which wasnt easy as expected
as it's just not at all the right season) and having time, meant for
us to make some decisions about our travel. this all was influenced by
thoughts about time, budget, weather, equipment, possibilities etc. we
had already used the floorspace of our last two, big accommodations in
Melbourne and Sydney to sort out our belongings. a difficult task -
it's been so nice to travel with half your wardrobe in the car ;) but
now we got back to the point to have to travel with just 1 backpack.
how shall i get all in there??? fortunately i've bought a new - and,
of course, bigger - one with Maruxa in April. Bine found one at
Paddy's market here in Sydney too, so some stress about how to fit the
last quarter of our wardrobe in our backpacks was taken from us. well,
and whoever has experienced me when i have to pack, will know what i'm
talking about here. not only about the need of the floorspace, but the
need of space in the backpack as well :)
after sending another parcel with stuff home to germany - i wonder if
the ones sent by seamail will ever arrive!? - and starting to think
everything through, discussing all the ideas, it all came down to a
well-thought, but still kind of spontaneous decision to change some of
our travel plans and therefore have a bit more time and book a flight
and fly out 2 days later - back to Perth :)
who would have thought that!? but it's good and we are both happy with
this decision. we are welcome at the house of our friend Wilma (whose
old appartment we could rent when living here before), can get our old
job back to make some more money for the rest of the trip and
connecting flights we still have to buy, and see the friends again we
made here... all in all it was the best idea.
we were looking for jobs in sydney, but not that easy. maybe we are
too picky now, but we also didnt want to spend and loose so much time
in recruiting processes etc (which took me mostly about 2-3 weeks
until i could finally start working). we had some offers for
fruitpicking in the south (not much to get in farmwork at the moment
either, as it's - again - not the right season), but the salary would
jsut have covered the accommodation - if even. so not really worth it
for us. the Australia trip didnt make us poor, but was still not cheap
so some income is welcome. but what an experience. 10,000km in 4
weeks... i think not many Australians have even crossed their own
country. all the things we saw, the diversity of the landscapes,
similarities to Europe to feel like at home :), colours in the nature
i've never seen at home, helpful people, to realise that there are no
Aborigines to be seen in the South (very surprising for us after
having them everywhere before), street signs to warn you about total
different animals than at home :), street signs close to Uluru - which
is in the centre of the country, that advise you to drive on the left
side (thanks a lot, we havent realised that the last thousands of
kilometers), many beautiful sunrises and -sets plus the beautiful sky
at night with all the stars you can see in the outback (i love 'no
lights anywhere' at night), the 4 kangooroos we finally spotted after
being 7 months in the "land of kangooroos", corals and fishes in all
colours, nationalparks, rain forests....
what an experience!
anyway... we have also been thinking about the whole continuation of
our trip and now booked all the flights we still need. so now we know
exactly when we will be going where. strange thought in a way.
so mid-september flying back to sydney for a weekend to continue our
trip with our world-around-ticket (changing its routing was
unfortunately not possible) to New Zealand. but we'll actually only
fly through. only flying through? when being that close? why?... we
are a bit fed up with rain, winter, cold etc. which is mainly due to
not having the right clothes. and New Zealand would be even colder. we
have experienced enough for now sleeping in the cold without the right
equipment, and dont want to rush through this country, and being cold
:) and even if i wouldnt have thought that i would do this trip
without seeing New Zealand - which i always wanted to see one day, and
i will still do, but then in summertime :) - i'm just looking forward
to sun and summer now. and one thing i learned as well on this trip
is: nothing is "out" of this world or too far. :)
so we are going straight to Peru, travel overland to Ecuador, fly from
there to Guatemala and travel to Mexico. From where we'll come home to
arrive in Germany on 18.11.2008. we are somehow back in timing and
planning at our very original plan, which is quite funny. so the first
thoughts are probably really the best. :)
so now, we have about 6 weeks to work here. we already started again -
and of course - dont feel like it at all :) but it's really nice to
see everybody again. and especially their faces. we didnt tell anybody
that we would come back and the surprise, questionmarks and happiness
in their expressions are already worth it :)
i'm sure some of you will have a questionmark in their minds as well,
trying to understand our reasoning and why to go back to Perth :)
ok, i have to leave you with that and take care of some daily-life-issues.
have a wonderful day wherever you are.
take care,
kristina
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